


A Man of Faith

by meridian_rose (meridianrose)



Category: Da Vinci's Demons
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Character of Faith, Comment Fic, Community: gameofcards, Gen, Introspection, Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-03-05 03:59:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3104777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meridianrose/pseuds/meridian_rose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the prompt ""Tell me would you kill to save a life? / Tell me would you kill to prove you're right?" (Hurricane by 30 Seconds to Mars)". Riario considers matters of faith.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Man of Faith

Faith was his touchstone, and Riario knew that to have true faith, it must be tempered. One must be tried and tested. Faith that had never known doubt was shallow indeed.

His quest for the Book of Leaves had led him into some difficult and dark places, but this was the worst yet. High on adrenaline, spattered in blood that was mostly not his own, he climbed the steps to face the last trial.

He was utterly unprepared for what awaited him.

Zita. _No_. Anything but this. He thought he would rather fall on his own sword, though he'd pay the ultimate price for the sin of suicide. He also knew this fleeting thought was not true. He was not ready to die. He had to retrieve the book, therefore he had to save Leonardo, which meant completing the task, which meant killing the only person to look at him with anything even resembling affection.

Was this Zita's reward, for believing in him? For her faith to lead her into death? Must everyone he touched die?

She was brave. She helped him place the sword against her body. He would never forget that moment, never forget her face, nor the way she collapsed into his arms. He would never be able to shed enough tears to mourn her, dead by his hand, yet killed just as much by the quest, by the tribe who demanded this sacrifice.

If Riario had not done this terrible thing, Leonardo would have died from the poison and with the death of the dreamer then Riario, Zo, and Nico, would have been executed. It was Zita's death that saved them all – and such blasphemy, that he briefly thought of Jesus' sacrifice that had saved all mankind. That she was their salvation did not make her death easier to bear.

Leonardo's retrieval of the Book of Leaves would be Riario's saving grace, proof he had made the right choices, recompense for this tragedy. The _artista_ would find the Book, and Riario would take it from him, and Zita would not have died in vain.

His belief in Leonardo's abilities burned almost as brightly as his devotion to God. Both demanded much of him, both left him sorely tested, but the blood on Riario's hands was evidence enough that he had been tried and not found wanting. Never let it be said he was not a man of faith.


End file.
